In order to harvest sugarcane from a field, a sugarcane harvester may move along a sugarcane field in order to gather sugarcane plants for further processing. One or more knockdown rollers may be mounted at or near the front of the harvester in order to assist in aligning the plants for intake into the harvester. In certain harvesters, a front or upper knockdown roller may be oriented at a relatively forward and upward position, and a rear or lower knockdown roller may be oriented at a relatively rearward and downward position. Accordingly, as these harvesters move along a sugarcane field, sugarcane plants may be aligned for further processing by one or both of the upper knockdown roller and lower knockdown roller.